Settlement FAQs

where was the red river settlement

by Jess Champlin MD Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Canada

Where was the Red River Colony located?

See Article History. Red River Settlement, (1811–36), colony in Canada on the banks of the Red River near the mouth of the Assiniboine River (in present-day Manitoba).

How did the Red River settlement start?

Red River Settlement was among the unbound land, in the center of the continent with key waterways that enabled travelers to reach it from all directions. In 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Company and its English and Scottish fur traders arrived on the coast of James Bay in northern Ontario and Quebec, and later Hudson’s Bay in northern Manitoba.

Who were the first settlers in the Red River Colony?

In the summer of 1811 Lord Selkirk sent a group of Scottish and Irish colonists to the Red River region by way of Hudson Bay, under Miles Macdonnell, the first governor of the colony; the party reached its destination in 1812. Subsequent parties of colonists followed in 1812, 1813, 1814, and 1815. The Hudson’s Bay Company’s...

Who were the Metis of Red River Settlement?

The Metís of the Red River Settlement were divided into three socio-economic groups: Tripmen, Hunter and Farmer-Merchant. Most Metís were either Tripmen or Hunters, many of whom spoke Michif. Until the late 1860s, they took part in the semi-annual bison hunts then spent the fall and winter at the Red River Settlement on available river lots.

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Where was the Red River Métis settlement?

WinnipegRed River Settlement - now Winnipeg - is the birthplace of the Métis Nation and the heart of the Métis Nation Homeland. The Red River Métis is Canada's Negotiating Partner in Confederation and the Founder of Manitoba.

Where was the Red River area located and who lived there?

The Red River Colony, a key part of Manitoba's rich history, was a settlement on the Red and Assiniboine rivers whose boundaries crossed parts of what are now Manitoba and North Dakota. Founded in 1812 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, the colony grew through times of extreme hardship into a multiracial society.

What was the purpose of the Red River settlement?

The Red River Colony was created to disrupt trades between the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company.

Who lived in the Red River settlement 1860?

Red River was one of the centres of Métis society and many of its leaders, including Cuthbert Grant, Charles Nolin, Pascal Breland, John Bruce, Gabriel Dumont, and Louis Riel, had been born or had homes there. The settlement also included several dozen aboriginals who had been converted to Christianity.

Who owns the Red River?

Thus, Texas (or its residents) own the property up to the gradient boundary along the southern bank of the river, while the federal government owns the land between the medial line of the river and the southern gradient boundary. Issues of jurisdiction again arose due to the highly transitory nature of the Red River.

Why is the Red River called Red?

After it was explored in 1732–33 by the French voyageur Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye, the river, called Red because of the reddish brown silt it carries, served as a transportation link between Lake Winnipeg and the Mississippi River system.

Who was the leader of the Red River settlement?

Founded in 1812 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, the colony grew through times of extreme hardship into a multiracial society. It was the site of the Red River Resistance before reluctantly joining Canada as the province of Manitoba.

What was the conflict in the Red River settlement?

Red River Rebellion, uprising in 1869–70 in the Red River Colony against the Canadian government that was sparked by the transfer of the vast territory of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company to the new country of Canada.

When was the Red River Colony formed?

The colony was founded in 1811–12 by Thomas Douglas, 5th earl of Selkirk, a Scottish philanthropist, who obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company a grant of 116,000 square miles (300,000 square km) in the Red and Assiniboine river valleys. The official name of the settlement was Assiniboia (q.v.).

What language do Métis speak?

MichifMichif is the language spoken by the Métis, who are the descendants of French fur traders and First Nations women, dating back to days of the Red River Settlement in Manitoba.

How many generations can claim Métis status?

The ability to transfer Indian status to children was created, as well. After two consecutive generations of parents who do not have Indian status (non-Indians), the third generation is no longer entitled to registration.

Where is Red River Valley located?

The Red River Valley in North Dakota is about 10 miles wide near the South Dakota border, but it is about 40 miles wide near the Canadian border. Between 750 and 800 feet above sea level, it is the lowest land in North Dakota.

Why was the Red River important?

The Red River and its tributaries were significant to transportation,trade and fishing,while the surrounding land was important for hunting and ceremonial activities.

Where does the Red River start and where does it end?

Mississippi RiverAtchafalaya RiverRed River/Mouths

Who are the Red River Metis?

The Red River Métis is the Indigenous collective - made up of its Citizens and individuals entitled to be Citizens -located within what is now Manitoba as well as elsewhere inside and outside of Canada. The MMF is the only officially recognized Métis Government in Canada.

What river was the Red River Settlement?

Red River Settlement. The Red River Settlement refers to permanently and semi-permanently inhabited areas along the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. The Parishes of St. Boniface, St. James, St. Charles surrounded the Forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers where Upper Fort Garry was located; adjacent to these were the Parishes of St. John and St. Vital.

When was the Red River Settlement established?

While Indigenous people had used the area around the Forks for millennia, the founding of the Red River Settlement dates to 1811. The first group of Lord Selkirk’s settlers arrived the following year. The area experienced a major increase in population (and decrease in tensions) after the amalgamation of the Hudson’s Bay and Northwest Companies in 1821. Upper Fort Garry, located at the centre of the Red River Settlement, was the headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). The HBC controlled the import, export and marketing of goods harvested from the land and those shipped in from Europe during the early years. Challenges by the Metís ended the HBC monopoly in 1849, allowing goods to be shipped in from St. Paul. By the 1860s, paddlewheel steamboats from the United States had largely replaced Red River cart brigades.

Who were the most wealthy people in the Red River Settlement?

Hudson’s Bay Company employees and retirees, such as James Bird and Cuthbert Grant, were among the wealthiest individuals in the Red River Settlement. Until 1870, permanent houses were usually constructed from squared oak logs using mortise and tenon (tongue and groove) techniques.

What was the Red River Settlement?

Red River Settlement was a colony built at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers long before Confederation. It would become the city of Winnipeg. It became an official colony in 1812 with the arrival of settlers from the Scottish Highlands, known today as Selkirk Settlers.

What was the name of the area that was part of the Red River Settlement?

Boniface and west to White Horse Plains (Headingly). The areas we now call St. Clements, St. Andrews, Selkirk, and East Selkirk were the northern extensions of Red River Settlement. Before the concept of Confederation emerged, there was no Canada.

Why are the Saulteaux called Saulteaux?

They called them this because the people leaped and jumped across the rapids as they speared fish on the St. Mary’s River near modern day Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario).

Where did the Saulteaux settle?

They established new camps on the banks of Netley Creek and places further inland near Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipegosis. On 1 July 1867, the British North American Act (BNA) passed, creating the Dominion of Canada.

What was the territory of Rupert's Land?

The territory he claimed was huge, about forty percent of modern-day Canada from Alberta to Quebec and from Hudson Bay south to the northern United States. Red River Sett lement was in the territory of Rupert’s Land.

How many people lived in the Red River Settlement?

After the Scottish settlers arrived, others followed. In 1872, the population of Red River Settlement totaled about 15,000 people. 1. Most residents were of First Nations and/or Métis/half-breed heritage. Other residents were of European heritage from the countries of Scotland, England, Ireland, Germany, eastern Canada, and the United States.

When did Selkirk become a colony?

It became an official colony in 1812 with the arrival of settlers from the Scottish Highlands, known today as Selkirk Settlers. They sailed from their homeland to York Factory on Hudson Bay and travelled the waterways to Red River.

Where did the Italians follow the Wood Road north to Red River Settlement?

Paul, the expedition reached Minnesota Territory where the Italians followed the Wood Road north to Red River Settlement. Some considered their trip to be a dangerous one because of the recent Sioux uprisings in Minnesota.

Who concluded that those who left the Red River settlementbefore 1875 were pursuing the buffalo trade?

Francois Xavier, Gerhard Ens concluded that those who left the Red River settlementbefore 1875 were pursuing the buffalo trade as well as avoiding the racism of the incoming Protestant settlers from Ontario.

What tribe is Red Rock?

Red Rock Chapter of the Navajo Tribe

When were the Manitoba settlements?

The Manitoba Settlements at St. Daniel and the Boyne, 1871-1901

What was the North West Company's hostility to the Métis?

The determined hostility of the North West Company mounted, especially after the company men had won the Métis (people of mixed European–indigenous Canadian descent), entirely to their side. By cajolery and threat they persuaded settlers to desert, but a new group of settlers came, and the colony was restored in 1815.

When did the first people live in the Red River Valley?

The first people in the Red River Valley were ancestors of the American Indians. They were here after 10000 years ago . This estimate is based on findings at several archaeological sites with either radiocarbon dates, or diagnostic artifacts known from other parts of the continent to date to that time period, known to archaeologists as the Paleoindian. At Browns Valley Minnesota, near Lake Traverse, remains of an ancient man with these distinctive early artifacts was radiocarbon dated to 9050 years ago. This is one of the most famous of all Paleoindian sites in North America.

What is the Red River?

The Red River is therefore a very young geographical feature. It is shallow, winding along a 550 mile course to Lake Winnipeg. The shallowness of the river, combined with its numerous bends and oxbows, plus the heavy annual snowfall that can readily occur in the prevailing climate, create ideal conditions for Spring flooding. Geological studies confirm that flooding was almost an annual event in the pre-settlement era. Several streams flow into the Red; but, as Brophy notes, the "stream network [has] great distance between streams, leaving vast areas untouched by any natural drainage areas." The land surrounding the river and streams is generally flat but also is filled with uneven depressions that can hold the runoff of the melting snow. Before the land was put heavily to the plow, these 'potholes' acted as "storage tanks" for ground water, and contributed nutrients to the soil. But the swamp-like ground aslo limited how much land could be planted; as late as the 1920s, the agriculture agent for Clay County Minnesota noted that farmers could increase their crops as much as thirty percent if drainage efforts were undertaken.

What was the first settlement in Manitoba?

The first major agricultural settlement established by the British in the Manitoba region was the Selkirk Colony , in 1811. The colony was the brainchild of Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, a Scottish laird. Lord Selkirk had for years been seeking a place to establish a North American colony for displaced Scot farmers who had lost their livings when ever more land in Scotland was enclosed for sheep. The British crown and parliament had encouraged this ongoing process for decades, as a method of building the empire's profitable woolen goods trade; they had succeeded so well that between 1760 and the early 1800s over 40,000 displaced Scots had left their homeland for overseas colonies. In 1803 Selkirk had helped to settle some 800 homeless highlanders on Prince Edward Island. A year later he paid out funds to help another group establish the hamlet of Baldoon in southern Ontario. But it was the lands of the Manitoba prairie that drew his most avid attention. In 1808, Selkirk visited Montreal and met with shareholders in the Northwest Fur Company, the only real rival to Hudson Bay for Canadian pelts. After extended talks with the already renowned explorer and entrepreneur Alexander Mackenzie, Selkirk approached the board of directors of Hudson's Bay, in which he held considerable stock, and persuaded them to let him fund a colony on a huge tract of land extending south of Lake Winnipeg, reaching east toward Lake Superior and south nearly to the banks of the Missouri River. It encompassed nearly 75 million acres in all.

Why did the British create the Hudson Bay Company?

In 1670, the British crown authorized the creation of the Hudson Bay Company for maintaining control of the trade in furs for this part of the continent. The Hudson Bay Company became immutably linked to the subsequent settlement and history of Manitoba and the Red River Valley.

What are the Plains Village artifacts?

The Plains Village artifacts are very similar to those used by the Oneota, a skilled group pf farming natives who moved into the eastern plains regions about 1100 years ago. Oneota natives may have been the ancestors of several plains "tribes" that European explorers and traders came into contact with in the late 17th and early 18th century -- the Omaha, Winnebago, Oto and Iowa.

How did the Red River Valley form?

The Red River Valley as it exists today emerged from receding glacier ice at the end last major ice age. Over a period of time that began about 14,000 years ago, an enormous "ice lobe" crept south from the Arctic, pulverizing all in its way and kneading the land into a new configuration. After reaching a point in what is today mid-Iowa, the ice sheet slowly receded northwards as the climate warmed, until about 12,000 years ago the land that is now the Valley was uncovered once again. The advance and retreat of the ice sheet had remade the land, smoothing it, in the words of geologist John Brophy, with deposits of "glacial and lake sediments so that the topography was now a broad, shallow basin" that gradually sloped away to the north. As melt-off and precipitation filled the low-lying ground a massive inland lake developed, covering some 370,000-430,000 square miles of ground, with depths of 200 to 700 feet. In the late 1800s, after the Swiss geologist Louis Agassiz, compiled evidence for the existence and impact of the ice ages, this massive lake was named Lake Agassiz. Lake Agassiz waxed and waned in size during climate changes over thousands of years, until the further retreat of ice permitted it to drain eastward and northward. Approximately 7500 years ago, the lake had disappeared, replaced by the Red River watershed that now extends from Lake Traverse (another product of the glacier age) on to the north.

Where did the first colonists live?

The first contingent of colonists left for Hudson's Bay in July of 1811and arrived at the Hudson's Bay post of York two months later. It was too late in the season to push on south and start building, so the colonists spent the long winter at York. It was miserable experience, as the men, far from home, spent endless days in small shacks miles west of York, surviving on a diet of deer and ptarmigan meat and suffering terribly from scurvy. It was not until mid-1812 that they had recovered sufficiently to move south and begin the colony at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. They began building their stockade and buildings on the west bank of the river junction. The colony leaders meanwhile laid out the plan for assigning strips of land to each farming family. While these leaders knew that it would take years before substantial crop harvests would be achieved, they also knew that Hudson's Bay Company would pay good prices for the grains that the colony grew. With time, they expected the colony to become a solid success.

Where did the Indians hide and cast away the stock in trade?

They found a cave in a high bluff, near the Washita, in which they stored away all the peltry, bear skins and ammunition, goods, etc., with the understanding that they return and help to move the stores so soon as they could go to the settlement and return. Off they went and were never heard of since. Left Capt. Hart, the Creek Indian and the faithful dog to close out with the Indians. Hart and his Creek would fight, and the dog too, but at last the Indians pressed so hard they succeeded in killing the Creek. That left Hart and the dog alone, but nothing daunted, he still fought whenever pressed; but at last the Indians fought so hard that he was compelled to leave. But in the last rush at him the Indians succeeded in separating Hart from his dog. The Indians chased him for about fifty miles—he killing one now and then when they pressed him too hard; but finally they gave up the chase and Capt. Hart was once more left there to rest and recruit his stores of provisions. His only companion was gone and he had no doubt but was killed by the Indians. So he was now all alone, indeed, not even a dog. Hart rested a few days and then killed a buffalo to get meat which he dried on a fire till dry; that he could pack upon is back enough to last him some twenty or thirty days. Thus equipped he started back to camp, keeping a look out for Indians, for he was all alone, and had not even the assistance of a faithful dog. He was very cautious about approaching his old camp for fear of being still waylaid. So when he arrived in a few miles of his camp he was exceedingly watchful, all depended upon care; so he did not approach the camp until late in the night, then with great care. As he was moving in the dark he could not hear anything, but all at once something sprang upon him and commenced whining, for it was his faithful dog, who had to hug and kiss him, and I can imagine that feeling was mutual; he felt relieved, for now he had a friend to help in time of trouble; he felt his dog and found that he had been wounded and almost starved to death; he took off his pack of provisions and fed the dog, but the dog would stop eating two or three times to hug its master. Such is the fidelity of a faithful dog. They laid down without fire that night—Hart and his dog slept together as friends as they were.

Where did John Hart go when he returned home from the war?

When Capt. John Hart returned home from the war, he was still desirous of adventure, so he went up Red River to a point near the mouth of the False Washita and made his settlement preparatory to entering into the location of lands, as he could see that there was the finest body for good land that the world had ever seen.

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The People of Red River Settlement Before Confederation.

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Red River Settlement was a colony built at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers long before Confederation. It would become the city of Winnipeg. However, those settlers were not the first residents of Red River Settlement. Most residents were of First Nations and/or Métis/half-breed heritage. Thousands of First Nation’…
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Arrival of Fur Trade

  • In 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Company and its English and Scottish fur traders arrived on the coast of James Bay in northern Ontario and Quebec, and later Hudson’s Bay in northern Manitoba. When King Charles II of England established the Hudson’s Bay Company, he claimed all lands that drained into Hudson and James Bay. He called his new territory Rupert’s Land.The territory …
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How Manitoba Became A Province

  • Manitoba became a province and joined Confederation in 1870. However, in order to tell the story of how this came to be we need to go back a little further in history. 1. In 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Company claimed ownership of Rupert’s Land and ruled over it for 200 hundreds. 2. By the mid 1860s, Hudson’s Bay Company officials agreed to transfer the land to the newly formed country …
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What Does The Name Manitoba Mean?

  • Steeped in ancient lore and legend, First Nations ancestors described the region of Manitoba as a place of Spirit, especially so in the narrows of Lake Manitoba northwest of the city of Winnipeg. There, strong winds send waves crashing against the limestone shore rocks creating a rhythmic surge like the powerful, steady beat of a drum, which the ancestors believed was the heartbeat …
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Peguis/St. Peter’s Band and Settlement

  • Prior to the region becoming the province of Manitoba, the land between east/west Selkirk and Lake Winnipeg was reservation land. It had belonged to the Peguis/St. Peter’s Band for over fifty years. On 18 July 1817, Chief Peguis officially claimed it when he and four other indigenous leaders, Le Sonnant, Le Robe Noir, L’homme Noir, and Premier, signed the first treaty of the reg…
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Treaty One

  • After Manitoba became a province, the Canadian government began land negotiations with First Nations people in the region. Many First Nations peoples did not understand the concept of owning land or Confederation. Nor did they speak or write the English language. This put them at a great disadvantage in negotiations with the new Canadian Government. However, the govern…
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Residents of East/West Selkirk

  • During the time of Confederation, residents of the east/west Selkirk region were a multi-cultural group of First Nations, Métis/half-breed peoples, and European immigrants.
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Did You Know?

  1. Winnipeg was once called Red River Settlement.
  2. East and west Selkirk were the northern extension of Red River Settlement.
  3. Manitoba became a province on 12 May 1870.
  4. Louis Riel fought for the rights of the Métis people.
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